DANBURY, CT (WFSB) — Prosecutors said its one of the worst cases of child abuse after a nanny intentionally burned and injured a child she was babysitting.
According to police, 31-year-old Lidia Quilligana was arrested Friday night after an investigation revealed the 3-year-old child she was caring for had suffered bruising and second-degree burns.
On Friday, Danbury police said Quilligana was watching three children at a home on Sienna Way. She was her full-time nanny at the residence for the last year.
Authorities said Quilligana was caught on a nanny cam putting the child’s hands and legs on a burner. Police said she had purposely inflicted the injuries to the child.
Danbury Police Officer Thomas Geanuracos wrote in an arrest report reviewed by Hearst Connecticut Media Group. “At one point, I observed Quilligana pick (the child) up by the throat with two hands and toss her to the ground.
“I observed Quilligana repeatedly take (her) by the wrist and put her hands on what appeared to be hot stove burners,” the officer said. “I observed Quilligana at one point jump on (the child) while she was lying on the ground and it appeared Quilligana applied all of her weight onto her and then pulled her pants and underwear down and spanked her …”
The report included a statement from the girls mother saying, “Lidia, my nanny, told me that they had made pancakes and when she wasn’t watching, my daughter had pushed her little chair up to the stove and burned herself, and that she got the black eye by hitting herself on the stove knob cover when she fell.” After viewing their nanny cam, the girl’s mother called police.
The child was taken to a hospital for treatment of the injuries.
Quilligana was charged with first-degree assault, risk of injury to a minor and criminal mischief. However, police said additional charges are likely.
Court documents shed a little more light on what may have happened. During the investigation, police seized the following items:
•a spray can of nail dryer
•a clump of hair
•two zip drives
•a tub of butter
•a curling iron
Quilligana, who has no previous arrests, was arraigned in Danbury Superior Court on Monday. Her bond was set at $1 million
The most damaging evidence could be video from that nanny cam. Outside court, Quilligana’s lawyers says she hasn’t seen it.
“All I’ve heard was that there’s evidence of some type of abuse with respect to hitting and burning a child, but I’m not aware if that’s actually true or not because I haven’t seen the video, ” Jennifer Tunnard , who is Quilligana’s attorney, said.
There was no answer at Quilligana’s Homestead Avenue apartment when Eyewitness News visited the residence Monday. But her neighbors said the arrest has shocked the block.
“I don’t know what she has on her mind to do something especially with somebody else’s kids,” neighbor Hugo Neves said.
Tunnard said Quilligana has two kids with one 15 years old and the other 12 years old. Friends and family do support her and they were in court on Monday. They wrote these letters saying they were stunned by these allegations.
